We’ve all been there – delivering a sub-par product or service to our customers. Sometimes it’s due to overwhelm, ignorance, or growing faster than you can keep up with the business.

As Christians, we’re in the business of giving people a second chance. You know, the forgive and forget thing.

But if you’ve made a bad hire or had a disastrous contract work arrangement, you know there are some situations that go beyond just a learning curve or making a mistake here or there. If that’s the case, you’re likely dealing with someone who doesn’t have their “stuff” together.

Here are the five red flags the person you are dealing with doesn’t have their stuff together and what to do about it:

1. Lack of personal responsibility

People you don’t want to do business with won’t acknowledge when they make a mistake. Somehow they turn the situation back on you. You end up frustrated about whatever went wrong regarding the task they were supposed to do, but also irritated to the core because the person won’t acknowledge any wrongdoing.

STRATEGY: Look for virtue first before skills when hiring vendors, contract workers or employees. A person with virtue is teachable. A skilled person who knows it all and is a victim to every situation that isn’t working can take your business down if you don’t’ get a handle on it sooner rather than later.

2. You feel stressed when dealing with them

A good hire and a win-win outsourcing arrangement should relieve your stress, not create more. A good employee should pay for him or herself within a month or two and you should be able to see the ROI on any outsourcing investment you make. Often the person’s undone work on themselves and their business gets transferred to you when you work closely with them.

STRATEGY: Pay attention to your gut and cut your losses sooner rather than later. You are not in business to help someone work through personal issues. You are there to make a profit. Being stressed out hurts, not helps the value you are trying to offer your paying customers.

3. Foggy expectations

In these relationships you may have been sloppy in setting expectations around the work you want done or have done a poor job of following up with the task or project once you’ve assigned it. You may have slide into this business relationship or hire with someone you knew and been more casual than you normally would.

STRATEGY: It is never too late to have the “expectations talk”. Find out what this person expects from you and clarify what you expect of them. Own where you’ve fallen, but be direct about where reality is not meeting the expectations when it comes to their work. Set clear timelines of when things need to be done and to what standard. Be ready to make a move if you are not where you need to be by the time you’ve specified.

4. Boundary issues

Poor boundaries often accompany sub-par work, and people with happy customers and good reputations typically have great boundaries. Poor or non-existent boundaries or lack of boundaries are predictors of more problems to come.

STRATEGY: Set your own boundaries on what you will and will not tolerate. Communicate that and take decisive action quickly.

5. Bad results

Unfinished or sloppy work is also a clue of someone not having their stuff together.

STRATEGY: Compare the quality of the finished product with what you require. Be clear about any shortfalls. Take reasonable corrective action. If there still is no improvement, cut your losses and terminate the relationship as quickly as you can. No one likes the anxiety, stress, and negative pre-occupation that arises when someone you are trying to conduct business with simply is not up to the task. It is not “un-Christian” to be honest and take necessary actions.

Often it is because this person has been enabled or the business propped up that has perpetuated the problem for them. Your clarity may be the catalyst for the person to get genuine help in getting their “stuff” together for the future.

Christian Entrepreneur on Fire Biz and Life Tip: Even for Christian business owners, one of the primary purposes of having a business is to make a profit because that allows you to provide the best value for your customers, so don’t feel guilty about making needed changes to keep your business healthy and strong.

While many entrepreneurs find fulfilment having their own businesses, making a profit still is the determining of whether you have a viable business or just an expensive hobby.

Earning money and serving clients in a sound business model leads to profits. Many frustrated entrepreneurs don’t recognize they are repelling the very things that are the lifeblood of their success. This could be you if you:

1. Don’t Know Your Numbers

I know most entrepreneurs are not the bean counting type, but you must have a pulse on the return on investment in your business to make timely and accurate decisions. Looking honestly at where the income and expenses can create anxiety and fear, but what you don’t know can hurt you. At least monthly review of key financial statements – your profit and loss and balance sheet – will save you money and heartbreak in the end. Thriving businesses make sure they have good systems in place; they are offering value to their ideal clients; and they are navigating a dynamic business climate on a daily basis. The review of your financials can help you diagnose where you might be going astray, so you can make course corrections quickly.

2. Aren’t Punctual

Entrepreneurial guru Dan Kennedy uses punctuality to rule out who he will and will not do business with and sees being on time as one of the most critical skills an entrepreneur can have. Punctuality sends the message that you can manage yourself, your business and your time. It gives potential clients the confidence that you have the bandwidth to be a trusted resource for them as well.

3. Market Before You Manage

Online business development strategist Tracey Lawton touts the importance of “managing” before you “market”. When you engage in marketing blitz without the proper thought to who your idea client is, your business model, and how you will manage yourself, your clients and your business. You can drum up leads and even clients, losing them just as quickly by not delivering because your back office wasn’t ready for the business.

4. Have Conflicting Priorities

People who place a high value on doing God’s will and making relationships a top priority can often run into competing work and personal agendas with the old paradigm of ”just work harder and do more” business approaches. Taking the time upfront in the visioning process to clearly define your Holy Spirit-inspired vision, flush out any potential conflicts with other priorities, and letting your right brain come up with creative, win-win ways to focus and achieve what you want, helps you identify and remove unconscious blocks that might be leading to FTI (failure to implement) what you say you want.

5. Unconscious Blocks

Limiting beliefs, in addition to conflicting priorities, can also be the culprit to the failure for you to attract the money and clients you want and need for a successful business enterprise. You may have underlying negative beliefs around the actual experience of being financially successful that need to be worked through. You may be putting yourself in a catch-22 situation where you link getting clients and revenue with high stress and feeling out of control in your life.

Having clear objectives that you regularly monitor can tip you off that something deeper is in play that needs your attention.If you would like some help getting rid of those blocks to earn more revenue and getting more clients, I invite you to invest in my GPS (God’s-will Planning Session) Strategy session. In it, I help you clearly identify your vision, any obstacles blocking your success, and strategies to help you move forward right away. To sign up for your session now go to http://talkwithchristina.com/

Christian Entrepreneurs Biz and Life Tip: Be a little one dimensional about seeing whether or not your business is profitable. This is a fantastic diagnostic tool that fosters your personal and professional growth as you identify and clear what is getting between you and your Holy Spirit-inspired vision.

In my early 20s God gave me a gift. In high school and college I had struggled with body image. As a young professional the Holy Spirit inspired me to do an experiment that would free me.

No matter how great or not-so-great I looked when I went to the gym to work out, those huge full-length mirrors in the aerobic studio would get me every time. I spent the time comparing.

I noticed who was exercising behind, beside, or in front of me. What were they wearing? What was their figure like? How did I stack up?

I had no idea what a downer comparing was until I started my “anti-comparing experiment”. I decided I would no longer compare myself with others.

The Experiment

The next trip to the gym, I became blind. I looked at the floor, not the mirror. I looked inward rather than unconsciously and habitually scanning my environment.

I instantly felt better about myself. I saw the burden comparing had been. Comparison-free days led to peace and self-acceptance. I went cold turkey with comparing in all areas of my life.

New Insecurities

But the insecurities of starting anything new, particularly your own business, can trigger comparisons. You might compare yourself with other women who don’t have a business and do not have to juggle as much as you do. You might compare yourself with other entrepreneurs feeling like your business isn’t growing fast enough or big enough.

Be careful. Comparing can drag you and your business down. Here are signals you are comparing and what to do about them:

Comparing Signals

Approaching your business in a way or at a pace that doesn’t fit with your state in life or values – When your focus is on how others do things and not on your needs, you can get in the trap of plowing ahead against your core values. For example, you may highly value spending time with your kids, but say “yes” to things that disrupt your time with them just because you see someone else using those same approaches. You also may disregard your correct instincts about a common sense work schedule because are emulating what you think you see other entrepreneurs doing. It is important to start with go back to what is important to you, and order your business around it. The money may come slower. But with the right foundation, you will have a structure that can take you to your ultimate vision rather than be disappointed when you “arrive”.

Buying into guilt– Living incongruent to your values breeds guilt. Guilt isn’t bad; it’s a warning sign. Guilt may signal your focus is too much on your neighbor rather than daily action towards your goals. The price of prolonged guilt is failing to understand and correct what is behind it.

Conflicted priorities – To be at peace with your business and your life you can’t just copy what someone else is doing, which is what comparing encourages. You are a unique person with a specific mission. Conflicted priorities flow from poor self-knowledge, which inhibits you finding creative solutions that untangle confusion and reorder your priorities.

Too many strategies – The anxiety around comparing leads to adopting too many and often conflicting business and life strategies and goals. Instead of developing proficiency in a few areas, you dilute your time and attention. Taking regular retrospective time going inside yourself simplifies your activity goals, gives you peace, and ultimately, gives better business results.

Just as I deliberately shut down the comparing in my 20s, busy Christian woman entrepreneurs must audit and eradicate the mental practice of comparing. A peaceful mind allows you to reclaim the focus you need for a successful Christ-centered business unique to you and your mission.

Christian Women Entrepreneur Biz and Life Tip: Getting out of comparing reintroduces yourself to the thoughts, desires, and feelings of the genius behind your business – you!

As a Christian woman entrepreneur, you trail-blaze the feminine path to freedom, flexibility, and financial resources. Do you recognize your key role in a worldwide movement?

I am just beginning to see the bigger picture. It’s exciting and humbling!

Marxists and communists promoted disconnection between children and their parents with incompatible work schedules. They also destabilized marriages with the encouragement of promiscuity and lust.

The agenda—creating a dependence on the state above family and God — fueled the economic and political goals of their leaders.

But the whacked out tax system in our capitalistic society has a similar effect. Policies incent large numbers of healthy, capable individuals not to work or to have children outside of wedlock. In exchange, the government provides a subsistence level of income. On the other spectrum, families live overly hectic lives with both parents working to make ends meet.

Either way strains the family economically and spiritually.

With your Christ-centered entrepreneurial spirit, you are interjecting sanity and order into the world. You model how to put faith and family first, to give value to your customers, all while making a positive economic impact on your family’s budget and the world.

Ladies, I know it is difficult to have a profitable business with good life and work balance. I encourage you to keep up the fight!

You inspire others whether you are in direct sales, online work or have a brick-and-mortar business! Other people notice you using your God-given gifts to create a life with money and time to spend as you want.

You show how not just to work, but work in a leveraged, smart way so you can rest, recreate, and invest in relationships. You are bringing your feminine genius into the world. You are helping the world get into a better balance between the masculine and feminine energies.

While you may not feel it some days, you are leading the new world paradigm. Many others are depending on you.

Follow the role models ahead of you. Pay attention to and trust your intuition. And continue to develop the skills, knowledge, and systems that make your business and life work.

God called you to this special role in this specific time in history. Stay rejuvenated and proudly move forward with confidence.

Christian women entrepreneur biz and life tip: Putting what you are doing into context and understanding your “why” helps you tackle the big and small steps to thriving in your business with joy.

On a plane ride back from a Las Vegas seminar, I sat next to a 20-something community college student. I learned he had a golf scholarship. He was returning from a Las Vegas family outing.

I noticed his slight speech impediment. As we spoke I realized that he had some similar struggles and mindset issues as my 13-year-old son who is deaf and wore cochlear implants.

He spoke about being teased by a few older members of the swim team when he first started as an 8th grader. He talked about how he rose above the obstacles.

When I asked how, he attributed his comeback-kid spirit to watching motivational videos.

My mind clicked. I got the names of his favorite videos.

Not too much later our son was about to earn his first cell phone by getting all A’s and B’s. We purchased a phone plan he would have to renew every 30 days. We only purchase a new phone card if he maintained his A’s and B’s…and thanks to my airline companion, if he watched three motivational videos.

It worked brilliantly! Mom wasn’t lecturing him on making excuses or settling for less. But rather a burly, big, black, tough, no-held-punches, motivational speaker told him how it is.

This month we listened to Eric Thomas in his deep gruff voice asking us to visualize him pushing our heads below water.

Thomas dramatically proclaimed when success is as important as breathing would in that moment, then you will be successful.

That even caused me to pause.

In my last blog, I cautioned against making your business an idol. This time I warn against keeping your burner too low. Here are four reasons to keep the heat up in your business:

1) YOU DEFINE SUCCESS

It’s not whether or not Christians should strive for worldly success. Christians aim for a Holy Spirit-inspired success vision. My ultimate attainment includes my family having the financial resources to fulfill our mission, working in a way that gives value and leads others to Christ while giving me enough downtime to enjoy myself, my family, and my relationships; and to be in a position financially and energetically to live a life of grateful services.

2) PURSUING GOALS DEVELOPS VIRTUE

Having a high bar stretches you to be fearless, rely on God, and develop new good habits, which become virtues. These are a workout for your spiritual life.

3) UPLEVELING YOUR LIFE UPLEVELS SOCIETY

As you become better, your offering to the world becomes better. Sharing your gifts benefits others. Your triumph doesn’t occur in a vacuum; you transform into a healthy, integrated, emotionally intelligent role model for others to aspire to.

4) MEDIOCRACY DOOMS YOUR BUSINESS

Halfhearted entrepreneurs don’t stay in business. A pattern of defunct businesses distracts from your life mission. Don’t be workaholic, but be focused, clear, and committed to excellence as you work smart to success. If you’re not passionate, it’s likely you will either quit or go bankrupt. You can’t run a successful business on fumes.

You can have healthy devotion to owning and running a profitable business or enterprise without having your spiritual priorities off-kilter. It comes down to letting the Holy Spirit create a blueprint and passionately learn from the best how to build it.

Christian Women Entrepreneurs Biz and Life Tip: Finding that right motivational set point and commitment to your business takes time, trial and error, and modeling after those you admire.

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